Kenya: It's a Scam! Beware of Facebook Account Claiming to Offer Loans in the Name of Kenyan Politician Aisha Jumwa

22 June 2023
Africa Check (Johannesburg)
By Grace Gichuhi

IN SHORT: A cabinet secretary offering loans to Kenyans would entice many to sign up. This account claiming to belong to her hopes people will fall for its scams.

The Facebook account Hon Aishia Jumwarh has announced loan offers available to Kenyans.

The account's profile picture is of Kenyan politician, Aisha Jumwa. She is the cabinet secretary for public service, gender and affirmative action.

One of its posts, dated 9 June 2023, reads: "Leo Ni TUESDAY Mwezi mpya back to school Kama uko online sai na hukupata Mkopo wangu Jana School fee Ni 50k Personal Ni 150,000 Business Ni 500,000 Shopping Ni 30k Building sh250,000 Emergency loan Ni 80k Choose one then INBOX OR whatsapp, 0743341253 for your loan application."

The mix of Kiswahili and English roughly translates to: "Today is Tuesday new month back to school If you are online right now and you didn't get my loan yesterday School fee is 50k personal is 150,000 Business is 500,000 Shopping is 30k Building sh250,000 Emergency loan is 80k choose one then INBOX OR whatsapp, 0743341253 for your loan application."

A picture of wads of money is included in the post.

The account has posted the same offer here, here, here and here.

But does this Facebook account really belong to Jumwa? We checked.

Fake Facebook account

The account claiming to be Jumwa's spells her name wrong. Its timeline shows that the first post was published on 28 May 2023.

All posts since then have been promising money to Kenyans. This activity is uncharacteristic of a cabinet secretary's social media platform.

Jumwa's official Facebook page is verified and has over 263,000 followers. It features posts showing her daily engagements and whereabouts.

Her page also makes no mention of any loan offers or promotions and publishes well-written messages without grammatical errors.

Read the original story, with links and other resources.
Africa Check is a non-partisan organisation which promotes accuracy in public debate and in the media. Twitter @AfricaCheck and www.africacheck.org

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